Troparion in Tone 3
O Holy Apostles Bartholomew and Barnabas,
Pray to the merciful God,
That He may grant to our souls
Remission of our transgressions!
Kontakion in Tone 4
The Church ever sees you as a shining star,
O Apostle Bartholomew;
Your miracles have manifested great enlightenment.
Therefore we cry out to Christ:
Save those who with faith honor Your Apostle,
O Most Merciful One!
The Holy Apostle Bartholomew was born at Cana
of Galilee and was one of the Twelve Apostles of Christ. After the
Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, it fell by lot to
the holy Apostles Bartholomew and Philip (November 14) to preach the
Gospel in Syria and Asia Minor. In their preaching they wandered through
various cities, and then met up again. Accompanying the holy Apostle
Philip was his sister, the holy virgin Saint Mariamnne.
Traversing the cities of Syria and Myzia, they
underwent much hardship and tribulations, they were stoned and they were
locked up in prison. In one of the villages they met up with the Apostle
John the Theologian, and together they set off to Phrygia. In the city
of Hieropolis by the power of their prayers they destroyed an enormous
viper, which the pagans worshipped as a god. The holy Apostles
Bartholomew and Philip with his sister confirmed their preaching with
many miracles.
At Hieropolis there lived a man by the name of Stachys, who had been
blind for 40 years. When he received healing, he then believed in Christ
and was baptized. News of this spread throughout the city, and a
multitude of the people thronged to the house where the apostles were
staying. The sick and those beset by demons were released from their
infirmities, and many were baptized. The city prefect gave orders to
arrest the preachers and throw them in prison, and to burn down the
house of Stachys. At the trial pagan priests came forth with the
complaint that the strangers were turning people away from the worship
of the ancestral gods.
Thinking that perhaps some sort of magic power was hidden away in the
clothes of the apostles, the prefect gave orders to strip them. But St
Mariamne became like a fiery torch before their eyes, and none dared
touch her. They sentenced the saints to death. The Apostle Philip was
crucified upside down. Suddenly there was an earthquake, and a fissure
in the earth swallowed up the prefect of the city, together with the
pagan priests and many of the people. Others took fright and rushed to
take down the apostles from the crosses. Since the Apostle Bartholomew
had not been suspended very high, they soon managed to take him down.
The Apostle Philip, however, had died. After making Stachys Bishop of
Hieropolis, the Apostle Bartholomew and St Mariamne left the city and
moved on.
Preaching the Word of God, Mariamne arrived in Lykaonia, where she
peacefully died (February 17). The Apostle Bartholomew went to India,
where he translated the Gospel of Matthew into their language, and he
converted many pagans to Christ. He also visited Greater Armenia (the
country between the River Kura and the upper stretches of the Tigrus and
Euphrates Rivers), where he worked many miracles and healed the daughter
of King Polymios from the demons afflicting her. In gratitude, the king
sent gifts to the apostle, who refused to accept them, saying that he
sought only the salvation of the souls of mankind.
Then Polymios together with his wife, daughter, and many of those close
to them accepted Baptism. And people from more than ten cities of
Greater Armenia followed their example. But through the intrigues of the
pagan priests, the Apostle Bartholomew was seized by the king's brother
Astiagus in the city of Alban (now the city of Baku), and crucified
upside down. But even from the cross he did not cease to proclaim the
good news about Christ the Savior. Finally, on orders from Astiagus,
they flayed the skin from the Apostle Bartholomew and cut off his head.
Believers placed his relics in a leaden coffin and buried him.
In about the year 508 the holy relics of the Apostle Bartholomew were
transferred to Mesopotamia, to the city of Dara. When the Persians
seized the city in 574, Christians took the relics of the Apostle
Bartholomew with them when they fled to the shores of the Black Sea. But
since the enemy overtook them there, they were compelled to leave the
coffin behind, and the pagans threw it into the sea. By the power of God
the coffin miraculously arrived on the island of Lipari. In the ninth
century, after the taking of the island by the Arabs, the holy relics
were transferred to the Neapolitan city of Beneventum in Italy, and in
the tenth century part of the relics were transferred to Rome.
The holy Apostle Bartholomew is mentioned in the Life of St Joseph the
Hymnographer (April 4). Having received from a certain man part of the
relics of the Apostle Bartholomew, St Joseph conveyed them to his own
monastery near Constantinople, and he built a church in the name of the
Apostle Bartholomew, placing in it a portion of the relics. St Joseph
ardently desired to compose hymns of praise in honor of the saint, and
he fervently besought God to grant him the ability to do so.
On the Feast day in memory of the Apostle Bartholomew, St Joseph saw him
at the altar. He beckoned to Joseph and took the holy Gospel from the
altar table and pressed it to his bosom with the words, "May the Lord
bless you, and may your song delight the whole world." And from that
time St Joseph began to write hymns and canons to adorn not only the
Feast day of the Apostle Bartholomew, but also the Feast days of many
other saints, composing about 300 canons in all. Sts John Chrysostom,
Cyril of Alexandria, Epiphanius of Cyprus and certain other teachers of
the Church regard the Apostle Bartholomew as being the same person as
Nathanael (John 1:45-51, 21:2).
Return of the
Relics of the Apostle Bartholomew
from Anastasiopolis to Lipari
Troparion in Tone 3
Holy Apostles Bartholomew and Titus,
Entreat the merciful God,
To grant our souls forgiveness of transgressions.
Kontakion in Tone 4
You appeared as a great sun to the world with miracles and
rays of teaching.
You guide to the light all who venerate you,
O Apostle of the Lord, Bartholomew.
The Transfer of the Relics of the Apostle Bartholomew took place at the
end of the sixth century. His apostolic activity and martyr's end are
remembered by the Church on June 11. The Apostle Bartholomew suffered
for Christ in Armenian Albanus (now Baku) in the year 71, where his holy
relics were. Numerous miracles occurred from the relics of the holy
Apostle, and many of the unbelieving were converted to Christ. Under the
emperor Anastasius (491-518) the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew were
transferred into the newly constructed city of Anastasiopolis (or Dura)
and remained there until the end of the sixth century.
When the city of Anastasiopolis was captured by
the Persian emperor Chozroes, Christians took up the chest with the
relics of the Apostle Bartholomew and fled with it to the shores of the
Black Sea. Having overtaken them, pagan priests threw the chest with the
relics of the Apostle Bartholomew into the sea. Four other chests
containing the relics of the holy Martyrs Papian, Lucian, Gregory and
Acacius were also thrown into the sea.
By the power of God the chests did not sink
into the depths of the sea, but miraculously floated upon the waves and
reached Italy. The chest with the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew came
to land at the island of Lipari, and the remaining chests continued
their journey and came to land at various places in Italy. The chest
with the relics of the Martyr Papian halted at Sicily, the Martyr Lucian
at Messina, the Martyr Gregory at Calabria, and the Martyr Acacius at
Askalon.
The arrival of the relics of the holy Apostle
Bartholomew was revealed to Bishop Agathon of the island of Lipari, who
went with clergy to the shores of the sea, took the chest from the
waters and solemnly transferred it to church.
Myrrh flowed from the relics of the Apostle
Bartholomew, healing people of various illnesses. The holy relics
remained in the church of the island of Lipari until the middle of the
ninth century when the island was captured by pagans. Christian
merchants took up the holy relics of the Apostle Bartholomew and
transferred them to the city of Beneventum, near Naples, where they were
received with great veneration and placed in the main church of the
city.
